ness

Hey Ray -- the whole Missouri/Kansas rivalry thing is over. Remember, you guys forfeited a few months back? You've probably got a lifetime of Kansas bashing momentum built up, so you're gonna have to put on the brakes and redirect that hatred toward -- I dunno -- Mississippi? Haven't seen any birds, but I haven't been looking. Things aren't looking too good in western Kansas, for sure. You seeing quail down there?

C'mon, man. Why get all bent out of shape on this? It's been a pretty civil discussion overall, partly because it's a repeat topic and everybody pretty much spoke their peace in the last thread. You gotta admit you did come blowin' in here yesterday blasting away at folks. You even jumped little ol' me, who hasn't even expressed an opinion one way or the other, and was just trying to add a little levity to the discussion. tjulianc even put together Flyfinger's Greatest Hits in a post on the last page to highlight how strong you came on. Frankly it seems you're reading an awful lot into people's comments, and then lumping darn near everybody into an anti-CCW bucket that simply isn't there. There's some folks who have strong opinions that are sitting this one out I'm sure, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a whole lotta folks ready to take your guns away. Nothing of the sort intended by me, that's for sure. Thanks for the heads-up on the LL Bean sale.

OTF -- don't let him scare you off. Sure, he's got a short fuse and a CCW permit, but we all enjoy your 'stupid comments'

I did find this video which does seem to support the argument that guns prevent crime:

Wow, you really nailed me there. Uncle.

If for no other reason to even things up with the growing number of insurgents out there fishing.

Your attempts at interpreting my smart-assery miss the target.

I've been hearing about the doctor shortage for a number of years, yet when I go by the beautiful new hospital the doctors-only parking lot is jam-packed with Porsche, Lexus, Infinity, BMW and Mercedes cars. It is a pain in the butt to get in to see my doctor though -- months to get an appointment. But I think that's because he's a good doctor with a large and loyal patient base. I don't think I'd have too much trouble finding a new one -- they're out there. My wife just switched to somebody closer to home. He's a GP, and just one example -- I know that. I just looked up the hospital I am referring to -- Shawnee Mission Med Center. They built a new $114 million 8-story building in 2009, spent another $19 million finishing it off in 2011 and then broke ground on a $42 million maternity building after that. That's a crap-load of dough, which makes me think it's a pretty good business to be in right now. Anyhoo -- I don't offer that info as commentary on ACA, more as general grumbling at medical economics being so out-of-whack. I'm no flaming Libertarian, but I am a believer in the idea that we ought to leave most things to the private sector; have a government that protects people from abuses, without getting in the middle and trying to fix everything. Government invariably introduces 'politics' into the equation, and that gets us stuff like we see now: no accountability, outsized costs and decision making based on about anything but what's good for the whole population of people affected. So, that's about all I've got to say about that. I know it's dangerously close to political, and will raise a few hackles, but I'm not looking to start an argument.

LOL Tim!

Man, I'm starting to think I've lead a charmed life. I've never had a gun to my head, been detained, falsely accused by a crazy person, had my car egged, been hassled by raccoons, had to finish off road-kilt deer, encountered meth cooks, been run off a public stretch of stream, wild/stray dogs/hogs, twitchy/toothless folk, or beach-ball-tossing fornicators.

Oh, I'm with you on a lot of that Wayne. We've had our share of medical issues in my family, and I've always been grateful for what's been available for us. And, I wasn't passing judgement on ACA -- more making a general statement about the jacked up economics in medicine. There's just too much money sloshing around, and the solutions put forth don't really address the cost issue much. We're just kicking the can down the road.

$17 aspirin, and $2,500 a night make good talking points, but have nothing to do with the market price of a pill and a bed for the night. It's what a hospital can charge to deliver the care. Part of that delivery cost is recouping the cost of the palatial new hospital, the machine that goes bing, salaries, insurance, administrative costs, etc. Where I get to scratching my head is when I see massive spending, and everybody screaming about runaway costs. I had an infection a couple months ago. The doctor discouraged a cheaper antibiotic due to side effects and steered me toward another with the warning that the pharmacist would say it wasn't covered when in fact it was. She gave me a little pep talk and told me to call her if the pharmacist gave me any trouble -- she'd set them straight. Well, I didn't get the coverage, so it was back to square one to get a new prescription. Back to dr. and then pharmacist -- The cost was $600 for a month's dosage, or $10 if I called the 800 number on the coupon. Where the heck else do you have that kind of price discrepancy? Things is jacked up.

Always ignore, and never believe, any statement containing the words always and never.

I agree with that sentiment 100 percent. And, it applies to other things as well. Where it gets muddied up is when you don't have to make those choices -- because the safety net is too large. I've noodled this over a lot, and I really don't have a solution. About the best thing I've come up with is that the current healthcare model is severely broken in many ways. Just look around you: -- New hospitals are being built like crazy. The one I worked at for my first job was closed, and a new one built a few miles down the road. They look like palaces. -- Costs are out of control -- even the most basic procedure can be tens of thousands of $. -- Drugs are the new treatment -- everything is treated with drugs. -- Drug companies are making so much they can afford to be crooked. Pfizer has paid close to $3 billion in fines, Merck $1 billion, Glaxo $3 billion, J&J $1 billion for illegal marketing, fraud, kickbacks to prescribers. -- Medical malpractice awards are crazy. -- Medicare fraud is rampant. Things is jacked up.

...yet your avatar is a pirate. Hmmmm.

Loved him peeling line off the top of the reel. 'If you don't hear it snapping, you're not doing it right.' 'I think Brad Pitt said it best, 'I am haunting in water'"

I hear they're super easy to catch during the spawn.

Cool! Does it have the compass in the stock and this thing which tells time?

What are you, like 6-8, 6-9? That put's it at about 12 inches.

Sweet looking little stream there.

If I'm not in the mood for a little hand-to-hand, I'll just use the cyanide dart umbrella I picked it up at a KGB flea market back in the 80's.

Hey, smarty pants -- cut me some slack, I've been busy! BTW -- I've caught wild browns in the Driftless area -- so that's no news to me.

I thought maybe I recognized the road along Bear Creek in the photos, and when you said camping, I thought of Highlandville. That general store there is great. Not sure if they're the same folks as the campground, but awful nice and helpful. Interesting to hear on the corn -- southern IA hasn't been as lucky from what I'm hearing.

And get a lanyard for it. As my daughter can attest -- "waterproof" isn't the same as "floats".

Tim -- I had to look that up. I knew the name Aldo Leopold, but didn't know why, nor had I heard of Sand County Almanac. Got it on the wish list now.